SERMON XXXII. MALACHI, iii. 1, 2.—And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the Messenger of the Covenant, whom ye delight in: Behold He shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth ?..... PAGE 32 SERMON XXXIII. MALACHI, iii. 1, 2.—And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the Messenger of the Covenant, whom ye delight in: Behold He shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth?... 50 SERMON XXXIV. LUKE, i. 28.- Hail, thou that art highly favoured! SERMON XXXV. DEUTERONOMY, xv. 11. For the poor shall never cease out of the land: Therefore I com 66 mand thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor and to thy JOHN, Xi. 25, 26. I am the resurrection and the life: He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth, SERMON XL. MATTHEW, xxiv. 12. — Because iniquity shall PAGE abound, the love of many shall wax cold........ 205 Preached for the Philanthropic Society, March 25. 1792. SERMON XLI. JOHN, XX. 29.-Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: Blessed are they who have not seen and yet have believed........................................ 231 SERMON XLII. JOHN, XX. 29. Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: Blessed are they who have not seen and yet have believed............... 1 JOHN, iii. 3. SERMON XLIII. 249 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure. 270 Preached at the Anniversary of the Institution SERMON XLIV. ROMANS, xiii. 1.-Let every soul be subject Preached before the Lords Spiritual and Charles the First. APPENDIX.............. 293 322 SERMON XXX: MALACHI, iii. 1, 2. And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the Messenger of the Covenant, whom ye delight in: Behold He shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? FOR the general meaning of this passage, all expositors both Jewish and Christian agree, and must indeed agree, in one interpretation; for the words are too perspicuous to need elucidation or to admit dispute. The event announced is the appearance of that Great Deliverer who had for many ages been the hope of Israel, and was to be a blessing to all the families of the earth. Concerning this Desire of Nations, this seed of the woman who was to crush the serpent's head, Malachi in the text delivers no new prediction ; but, by an earnest asseveration, uttered in the name and as it were in the person of the Deity, he means to confirm that general expectation which his predecessors in the prophetical office had excited. "Behold He shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts." Saith the Lord of Hosts. This was a solemn form of words with all the Jewish prophets, when they would express the highest certainty of things to come, às fixed in the decrees of Heaven, and notified to man by him to whom power is never wanting to effect what his wisdom hath ordained. And the full import of the expression is nothing less than this—that the purpose of him whose councils cannot change, the veracity of God who cannot lie, stand engaged to the accomplishment of the thing predicted. "He shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts." With this solemn promise of the Saviour, Malachi, the last inspired teacher of the Jewish church, closes the word of prophecy, till a greater prophet should arise again to open it. It will be 11 |